BACKGROUND Erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESAs) are widely used to treat anaemia but concerns exist about their potential to promote pathological angiogenesis in some clinical scenarios. In the current study we have assessed the angiogenic potential of three ESAs; epoetin delta, darbepoetin alfa and epoetin beta using in vitro and in vivo models. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The epoetin...

BACKGROUND The objective was to determine the cost-effectiveness of treating anemic patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) to a low (9-10.9 g/dL), intermediate (11-12 g/dL), or high (> 12 g/dL) hemoglobin level target compared with a strategy of managing anemia without ESAs. STUDY DESIGN Cost-utility analysis. SETTING & PARTICIPANTS Publicly...

PURPOSE Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESA) are approved for the treatment of anemia in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies whose anemia is due to the effect of concomitantly administered chemotherapy. Since the 1993 approval of epoetin alfa in patients with cancer, the risk of thrombovascular events, decreased survival, and poorer tumor control have been increasingly recognized. The risk...

BACKGROUND Patient-based symptom scores are the standard method for assessment in palliative care. There has been limited research on the frequency of errors upon using this approach. The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS) is a reliable and valid assessment tool routinely used for symptom intensity assessment in our cancer center. OBJECTIVE To determine if patients were scoring the symp...

PURPOSE To update American Society of Clinical Oncology/American Society of Hematology recommendations for use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in patients with cancer. METHODS An Update Committee reviewed data published between January 2007 and January 2010. MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library were searched. RESULTS The literature search yielded one new individual patient data anal...

BACKGROUND For ambulatory cancer patients, Ontario has standardized symptom and performance status assessment population-wide, using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and Palliative Performance Scale (PPS). In a broad cross-section of cancer outpatients, the authors describe the ESAS and PPS scores and their relation to patient characteristics. METHODS This is a descriptive study ...

BACKGROUND Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is an important outcome in the treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and appears to be highly associated with patient self-report of symptom burden. This study examines the longitudinal validity of the modified Edmonton symptom assessment system (ESAS) to determine the impact of change in symptom burden on the change in HRQL of haemodialysi...

PURPOSE To update American Society of Hematology/American Society of Clinical Oncology recommendations for use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in patients with cancer. METHODS An Update Committee reviewed data published between January 2007 and January 2010. MEDLINE and the Cochrane Library were searched. RESULTS The literature search yielded one new individual patient data anal...

In endothelial cells, erythropoietin receptors (EPORs) mediate the protective, proliferative and angiogenic effects of EPO and its analogues, which act as EPOR agonists. Because hormonal receptors undergo functional changes upon chronic exposure to agonists and because erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are used for the long-term treatment of anemia, it is critical to determine the mechan...

Introduction Our department's standard work-flow includes assessment of all the patients with the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), a one-sheet questionnaire addressing 11 major symptoms and wellbeing on a numeric scale of zero-10, before the palliative radiotherapy (PRT). Based on previous research, we hypothesized that the patients with minimal or moderate total symptom burden might ...